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Going to Meet the Man
Going to Meet the Man: Stories | James Baldwin
8 posts | 16 read | 14 to read
"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob. By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying--and informed throughout by Baldwin's uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators--Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers.
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Leftcoastzen
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#authoramonth #20in4 Sonny‘s Blues made me cry and I‘ve read it before.I finished this about 6 hours into my #readathon What can be said about Baldwin , a person who never held back writing about strong characters in a world full of injustice, racism, & the challenge of daily living.Emotionally strong ,he seems to examine life through a prism seeing all the sides . I‘m glad I finally got to this short story collection.

Andrew65 Great 👏👏👏 3y
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Eggs
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"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." Eight short stories full of heartbreak, violence, drama, broken people. Great writing but not my favorite ?‍♀️

#authoramonth2021 @Soubhiville

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

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Addison_Reads
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Excellent collection showing Baldwin's talent and diversity.

I was surprised when I started this that several I had read in high school and college but I didn't realize they were written by Baldwin before.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks @Soubhiville #AuthorAMonth2021

32 likes1 comment
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Leftcoastzen
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#curiouscovers #man It‘s hard to resist vintage paperbacks in good condition, I also love Baldwin but haven‘t read this short story collection.You know me, getting all the books so I won‘t be caught short in the impending book apocalypse.📚💣🤯

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks We will both be safe!! 3y
Eggs Yeah...that pretty much sums up our book obsessions🤷‍♀️ 3y
Leftcoastzen @Eggs Better safe than sorry.😄📚📚📚 3y
Eggs @Leftcoastzen 🤣😂😅 3y
52 likes5 comments
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Graywacke
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There‘s a long path of Baldwin‘s life in this short story collection, capped, easily, by the magnificent Sonny‘s Blues. Baldwin does some lovely, beautiful gently-created characters and tears them up. The last story, the title story on going to see a lynching, hovers over everything else. These stories are about racism even when they‘re not. The book completes my reading of the pictured collection.

KathyWheeler I think I need to read these again. It‘s been years. 5y
Graywacke @KathyWheeler Since Baldwin is all new to me this year, it‘s too soon to think about rereading...well kinda. But I imagine he has a lot offer on multiple reads. Certainly Sonny may require another visit by me. 5y
KathyWheeler @Graywacke It‘s been around 30 or so years for me. He‘s due a reread. 5y
Graywacke @KathyWheeler admiring your history 🙂 5y
66 likes5 comments
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decembersveryown
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Rereading a couple of stories from this collection. I really need to read more of Baldwin‘s books. I just own this one and a poetry collection but there‘s far too many others I‘m missing out on for sure 📚🤔

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Emilymdxn
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I‘d never read Baldwin‘s short stories before but these absolutely didn‘t disappoint. He sketches in so much in so few words, and covers so many emotions without ever being melodramatic. I think the thing that struck me most was how he wrote about religion. I‘m glad I read this after Notes of a Native Son and was able to see his father‘s voice in the preaching, and reactions to it in the prose that followed.

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wisebravegirl
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Hey, buddy, I can't finish reading these stories if you're going to nap on them all day long...

Sace 😂😂 7y
rubyslippersreads A book makes the best pillow. 😸 7y
shanebeth awww! 7y
JazzFeathers 😂😂😻😻😻💙💙 7y
102 likes4 comments